ProK9 Winnipeg

Had a one hour session with David, he was extremely knowledgeable and professional. The corrections and training tips he gave were easy to follow and had such a big impact, My dog went from wreaking havoc on walks to heeling and being attentive, even fixed a lot of her reactivity to other dogs. Highly recommend to anyone struggling with correcting behavioural issues.

David worked my dog Coco and I through the service dog certification program. David is very, very knowledgeable, and provided me with excellent feedback and guidance, all while taking my disability and my dogs needs into account. Wonderful experience!

I would recommend David Bessason, owner of Pro K9 to anyone who is having issues training their dog, especially a reliable recall. I have an 18 month old border collie and my mistake was to try training her using a harness which only encourages dogs to pull. We moved to a rural area in September, 2024 and discovered that Star is reactive to just about everything that moves. She's a border collie! She learned about fast moving cars while we lived in Winnipeg but once we moved to our small town she was exposed to all the wildlife and recreational vehicles she had no chance to become accustomed to as a young puppy in the city. Every time a deer or quad or snowmobile zoomed by mere yards from the trails we walked on, Star took off chasing them with me on the other end of the leash. Because she was on a harness, she didn't notice the force with which she ended up pulling me and no amount of my pulling back or trying to distract her with treats worked to keep her from chasing. I have been to puppy, adolescent and obedience classes based on treats and positive reinforcement and Star does well with sit, stay, place, down etc. in the house or where/when there are no distractions. All the training in a hall or classroom or even in an outdoor hockey rink will never simulate a deer suddenly jumping out of the bush 10 feet away. I was at my wit's end when I decided to try a different training methodology. I got in touch with David at Pro K9 because I felt that, with his background, he has a great deal of experience with hundreds of dogs and how to train them and their handlers. He was very positive, even sweet with Star, not how I imagined a police dog trainer would be at all, and she responded to him right away. After two sessions with David, the purchase of an ecollar and four weeks of my training Star twice a day following David's advice, she still wants to chase moving objects but I can tell her to "leave it" and "come" and she will sit beside me and no longer slam into the end of the leash. We have been on off leash walks for the first time in Star's life, which makes me very happy. The ecollar is not an instant pill for success, Star knew all the commands before we started using it. I watched many hours of ecollar training videos which reinforced what David had taught us about using it as one of the aids to help your dog be successful. I also know that the results I have seen so far are only the beginning and there is still a long way to go, however, two months ago I never would have believed we would be walking on a loose leash or off leash at all. David's coaching and positive praise as well as my efforts, will hopefully allow Star to learn how to be a happy adult dog who can be off leash with me in the beautiful rural area in which we live. Ecollar training may not be the right thing for every owner or their dog but for Star and me it has opened the door to our future freedom.